Friday, July 20, 2012

Guest Post by Bill Eccles

Her name is Terry M. Eccles, M.D., and she did that. She did build that business that President Obama is trying so hard to tax and regulate into nonexistence. She did work 100 hours per week to take care of her 3,000 patients. And it doesn’t take context to understand that she continues to do so, tirelessly, day in, day out.

No, she alone built her business, and nobody else did it for her.

But Senator Elizabeth Warren, President Barak H. Obama and Democratic apologists are trying to diminish that accomplishment, to reduce the illustrious achievement of making it, by saying that it’s only by the efforts of every other person in America that she somehow did it. That she couldn’t have done it without everybody else’s help, without the government’s help. That if those roads hadn’t been paved, she couldn’t have done it. That if those teachers hadn’t taught her, she couldn’t have done it. That if those student loans hadn’t been guaranteed, she couldn’t have done it. That if the government hadn’t been there to coddle her, that she couldn’t have done it.
What they all fail to realize is that the people who do things are going to do them, with or without the government’s help, with or without the help of a larger community, with or without all the benefits of this great society of ours.

They will find a way to go to school without a paved road or a bus ride. They will learn their ABCs in spite of the lack of a textbook or an attentive teacher. They will find a way to pay for college. They will fight government red tape to get the best health care available for their fellow citizens. And they will do so because they aspire to greater things. They will make good decisions in spite of the lack of a role model. They will overcome, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.

Though the President used the “i” word in his speech, he doesn’t understand that initiative is not legislated. Initiative is not granted or bestowed. Initiative is not earned. Initiative is not purchased with food stamps. Initiative is not available by mail order or court order.

Initiative is part of us, and it is either fostered or hindered by the government and those around us. It is clear that President Obama and his administration believe that they foster initiative by taxing the rich, belittling the successful, devaluing hard work and giving trophies to every kid on the losing team just for showing up to the field.

This childish mentality will not stand between those with initiative and their success, but it will certainly make achieving success significantly more difficult. And everything that makes it more difficult for them to succeed makes it more difficult for us and our country to succeed with them.

The people in this country who are doers will do. Our country’s success is riding on their shoulders. So if you want them to succeed, get out of their way.